Uproar over CAG`s CWG report stalls Parliament

New Delhi: Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Monday as the opposition demanded Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit`s ouster following her indictment by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for irregularities in the Commonwealth Games (CWG).

As soon as the Lok Sabha met on the first day of the second week of the Monsoon Session, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies demanded cancellation of Question Hour and discussion on the CAG report. The House was adjourned till 12.00 noon amid pandemonium.

When the Lower House re-assembled, the BJP, Left and Samajwadi Party again created a ruckus demanding the resignation of Dikshit and raised slogans against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The House was then adjourned for the day.

Similarly in the Rajya Sabha, opposition members were on their feet demanding Dikshit`s ouster. BJP members trooped to the Chairman`s podium and chanted slogans demanding that she quit. Amid the pandemonium, the House was adjourned till 12.00 noon, giving Question Hour a miss.

When the House reassembled at 12.00 noon, the scene was no different as the opposition raised slogans again. As agitated members continued with their demand, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan adjourned the House for the day after papers were laid on the table.

The decision to demand Dikshit`s resignation was taken in the BJP`s core group meeting on Sunday.

The party also moved a privilege motion against Sports Minister Ajay Maken, accusing him of misleading Parliament saying the decision to make Suresh Kalmadi chief of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee was taken during the time of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Even as the heat grows on the government over the CAG report, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said it will take a stand on the issue only after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examines it.

"The CAG report is an audit and it has to be examined by the PAC. The PAC has not taken a position on it, it`s just the chairman who has circulated something ... the government will take a stand after that," Khurshid told reporters.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar attacked the Congress for not asking Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to resign, stating two other reports proved the corruption in her government.

"When the (Delhi) Lokayukta report indicted Rajkumar Chauhan (Delhi PWD minister) they said the Lokayukta report was not correct, now that the CAG report is here they say it is only an audit report, but there is the Shunglu committee report which indicts the chief minister," Javadekar said.

"How long can they defend the corrupt, she will have to go and she must resign," he said.

The nearly 750-page report of the CAG on the CWG revealed irregularities in organising the Commonwealth Games.